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In Five Years of Full-time Ministry, We Have Never Walked Alone!

We packed-up our house in Rosemount, Minnesota and moved to Westby, Wisconsin in July 2009.

This month marks 5 years that we have been in full-time ministry. Five years since we moved from our house in Rosemount, Minnesota to a farm house in Westby, Wisconsin then to a much smaller house on a tiny island in The Bahamas. Five years since we left “normal” jobs, friends, and family and began devoting our time to ministering to people in camp ministries. So much has been done, and though in some ways it seems like a very long time ago, it has flown by so quickly that it almost seems like yesterday.

We moved from Westby, Wisconsin to Nassau, Bahamas in January 2013.

It is a blessing and privilege to be serving our Lord. Days are sometimes long and hard, but we are encouraged by one simple fact: there is never a day where we have walked it alone. God has been faithful and has always walked with us. On the days we feel He has deserted us or that we are walking alone, we are the ones that need to adjust our perspective and correct our propensity to wonder away from Him. He has promised to never leave us or forsake us (Deuteronomy 31:6, 7; Hebrews 13:5).

Below you will see the YouTube video of Matt Redman’s song Never Once. We sing this song often at Kingdom Life Church and we are reminded that God is faithful during the mountain top as well as the valley experiences and that everything we accomplish in this life is by God’s grace and power in us. We praise God that in these last five years of full-time ministry He has never once left us on our own. He is indeed faithful!

What happened to “Part 2” of the blog 3 weeks ago?

Quite simply, it never got done. Three weeks ago, Mission Discovery arrived, and we began serving them and have been serving ever since. We were just not able to devote time to posting pictures on a blog. Please accept our apologies. Those who like pictures, you should have your fill of them here. The pictures in this post will cover late April to June 15th. The next post will begin on June 16th. Hopefully we can add that post in the next couple of weeks.

Adventure Learning Centre and Camp Staffing

In our last blog we mentioned three areas of staffing needs for the Centre and Camp: maintenance staff, facilitator staff, and IT/technology staff. A couple from Delhi, New York is prayerfully considering how they might be used here especially in the area of maintenance as the husband has had experience in construction and maintenance type jobs. Please pray for Pat and Janice Armstrong as they consider what God would have them do. Also, please pray that God continues to raise up the right new people to come and help us here in the ministry work of the ALC&C and equips the current staff to do the jobs they are called to do.

Camp Development

The second staff cottage: the Ministry of Works has approved the print, and now we can start working on it.

As facility improvements continue and as more and more groups (foreign and local) are learning about and starting to come to Adventure Learning Camp, our staff needs are also increasing. With the increase in missionary Camp staff, more housing options are needed. We are running out of options for housing, but we are trusting God to help us get things done. The biggest project we are working on now is the second staff cottage. Tim has worked with the Ministry of Works and an electrician to get the final plans for the cottage approved. Now that the plans are approved, Tim hopes to get into the cabin this next week and do some preliminary construction (framing some walls and adding a few extras that will cut our cost down a bit). Our goal is to have the cottage completed this fall.

Tim and Scott working on getting a bid for construction of a new Cabin next to current Cabin 1.

Along with the plans for construction of the staff cottage, Tim is also working on plans to start construction of a new cabin by Cabin 1. This will not start until after the near completion of the staff cottage ,and after the board gives direction and approval of plans, but beginning plans are still being made. In fact, God sent an architect to us who will do the blue prints for us for free. We would like to get the ball rolling on this project because there is a possibility that a mission team from Wilson, North Carolina will be coming this fall to do construction work here at the Camp. We could really use them in the construction of the cabin.

Construction projects are not the only projects we are working on. Of course we have more teams and groups here at Camp over the next several weeks, and in September, we will be hosting an open house/reunion for Joy Bible Camp campers and those interested in a future kids camp. In October we will be hosting our 2nd annual young adult weekend. Please pray for these two events on our Camp calendar and for the mission teams and groups still scheduled to come this summer.

Family News

Zachary has been gone 4 1/2 weeks already and will be coming home next Tuesday. We are looking forward to his coming home but can’t believe how fast this summer is going.

Logan is adjusting well to his reintroduction back into American culture. He has got a job working at Macys in downtown Minneapolis and has already had Freshman orientation with the University of Minnesota. He is ready for classes to begin in a little less than 2 months. He is also enjoying the cooler, less buggy weather of the upper Midwest.

Tim and I continue to work nearly everyday. We have had a few Saturday afternoons off this summer. We hope to possibly find some time later this fall to take a longer break. Although not a vacation, there is a fairly large trip in our future. We are in the beginning stages of planning a support raising/ALC&C promotion trip for late October, all of November and a little into December. Unfortunately, Minnesota and Wisconsin are still not on the itinerary. We will keep you posted. Please pray that God gives us direction on how to plan for this trip.

Now the picture update

(click on the collage if you want to enlarge the picture)

Stay tuned for June 16 to present. Lord willing we can finish the picture update in our next blog within the next couple of weeks.

Prayer Requests

Praise the Lord for the work He is doing in the lives of the young people that are coming on the mission trips this summer

Pray for strength and stamina to make it through the next few weeks. We are working with no days off, and we are exhausted.

Pray for wisdom and discernment in our dealings with others

Pray for plans for upcoming events: Myron Rolle Foundation Camp this next week, Metro Life Mission Team (Orlando) the following week, Harborview Mission Team (Washington State) in August, tJoy Bible Camp Reunion in September, Young Adult Weekend in October, and plans for a support raising / ALC&C promotion trip this fall, work on the construction projects